Sam Shaw Documentary

March 15, 2012

In honor of Sam Shaw's centennial, Shaw Family Archives has teamed up with Emmy award winning producer, director and writer, Gail Levin, to make a documentary film about Sam Shaw's life and work.

We first met Gail during Making The Misfits, a film she made for PBS' Great Performances in 2002. Our paths crossed again a few years later during her American Masters film Marilyn: Still Life in 2006. Some of Gail's more recent work includes Cab Calloway Sketches for the French/German consortium Arte and the Emmy nominated Jeff Bridges, The Dude Abides, which opened the 25th season of American Masters in 2011. Our many conversations about Sam over the years eventually materialized into a collaborative film project currently in production.

Here are some excerpts from an interview with Gail where she discusses Sam Shaw's friendship with Marilyn Monroe, his collaborations with John Cassavetes, and what makes Sam's photographs of stars so unique:


How did you first learn of Sam Shaw and his work?

Gail Levin:  About a decade ago I made a film called Making the Misfits for PBS' Great Performances, which was, of course about the making of the film The Misfits, which turned out to be Marilyn Monroe's last film. I had learned in researching the story that Sam Shaw (an unknown name to me then) had been a close friend of Marilyn's.  During her marriage to Arthur Miller, she had a miscarriage. Actually she may have had more than one, I don't know for sure, but this time she was told that she would not be able to have children. This was a great blow to an already fragile Marilyn. In the meantime Miller had written a short story called The Misfits based in Reno, Nevado while he was there getting a divorce to marry Marilyn. There was a female in the story, though not prominently, and it turns out it was Sam Shaw who suggested to Arthur Miller that he write The Misfits as a gift to Marilyn to help her regain her confidence and that he build the role of Roslyn for her. So, long way to get to that, was how I first heard of Sam. And then I learned that he was a photographer, had taken many pictures of Marilyn and was also a friend to both the photographic community and the film community, and very established in both worlds...  

I think too, at that time, I was led by another friend of both mine and the Shaw family, Susan Lacy, executive producer of PBS' American Masters, to Meta Shaw, one of Sam's daughters. So I phoned Meta and literally that was the beginning. That was my first introduction to Sam and to his family and it stuck...

Then several years later, in 2006, I did make a film for PBS' American Masters on Monroe, just from the point of view of the photography. Of course by then I had become very cognizant of Sam's place in the Marilyn canon and that he had masterminded the "white halter dress" shot, so again I contacted Meta Shaw and this time we licensed Sam's photos as well as include a section of the film on him...


Were you aware that Sam was not just a photographer but also a filmmaker?

Gail Levin:  No, I was not, and also at that point I didn't even realize the extent of his work as a photographer. But then I learned of his work as a producer with John Cassavetes and the gigantic treasure trove of photos that exist on Cassavetes' work and family.  I still continue to learn of the breadth of Sam's influence in both fields...


How does this film compare to other portraits/biopics you have made?

Gail Levin:  This is a very personal and intimate film, which is what I like to do anyway, but in this case, there is again an absolute treasure trove of work unknown to the general public. And Sam's name is also unknown in that way. Yet, within the film world and the photographic world he was a beloved and admired and respected colleague and friend. He knew everyone and everyone knew him. He's the best known guy you never heard of. So I like the idea of getting this gorgeous work out into the world. He had an extraordinary knack for capturing inimitable moments with very famous stars and directors, as well as putting his artistic imprint on films that he produced or art directed or was just in some way involved. The pictures are extraordinary, so this becomes great fodder for a film, and so I have wanted to make this film ever since discovering the magnificence of this largely unknown archive and show Sam to the world!


Even though some of Sam's photos are known all over the world, why do you think he himself is not more well-known?

Gail Levin:  I truly don't know. As I said, certainly famous working photographers of the day knew and idolized him, in fact that is still so. Bruce Weber is smitten by Sam's work. And yet somehow, he is still a sort of secret. Perhaps too it is not what Sam himself craved. You get the feeling always that for Sam it was about the work, the moment, the art, what was in front of him and not what fame he could glean from it...


Is there a particular photograph or movie that Sam made that is your favorite or resonates with you personally? If so, why?

Gail Levin:  I don't think I can identify just one, but one that I truly love is his shot of Ann Bancroft picking out a baguette from a bakery window with a cigarette just hanging off her lip like she was in a poker game...gorgeous shot! I do love the many Marilyn's when they are truly engaged with each other in the picture making.  I love the contact sheet of Gena Rowlands and all the amazing working shots on the Cassavetes' sets. And of course Brando at the pool table in Viva Zapata! But there are so many more....and also I want to mention his tremendous range, he also worked as a photojournalist and those pictures too are filled with such humanity and grit and humor and grace and art, that it is impossible to find just one. I want to emphasize this feeling of humanity and humor, both ever present in Sam's work...

As for movies, one would have to say A Woman Under The Influence. It is such a brave and daring piece of work, so raw and so real and so unrelenting. And it is just a stupendous film all around. Real balls from everyone!


What is something you discovered about Sam's life and work that you did not previously know?

Gail Levin:  I didn't anticipate or know again, the real range of his oeuvre, the depth of this archive, nor did I know about his work as a film producer. Not only did he work with Cassavetes but also produced Paris Blues, a 1961 film with Paul Newman, Joannne Woodward, Sidney Poiter, and Diahann Carroll, which too has his artistic touch all over it. Again, I want to emphasize that Sam was truly an artist and worked with an artist's soul, and maybe that's why his name is not known, he worked to the sound of his own drum and that freedom was key to him and perhaps that doesn't always translate into being well known...


If Sam were still here, what would you ask him?

Gail Levin:  Everything we have discussed here and more. I would love to know his personal responses to the various relationships he had with some of the most incandescent people in the movie, art and music world, and to hear his own anecdotes and stories and to see his own reactions to those questions. I would ask what in him, if he could even identify it, made him so intuitively know the moment to shoot. Is there a way to even define something that is really so innate and so individual?